Geneva 2014: Mercedes-Benz S 500 Coupe

The first model in the brand new Mercedes-Benz S-Class range is on display at the Geneva Motor Show 2014. The Mercedes-Benz S 500 Coupe is the major highlight of the stand at the Geneva Motor Show. The S-Class Coupe replaces the Mercedes-Benz CL-Class as the top of the range Coupe! We took a closer look at the car on the show floor!
The Mercedes-Benz S 500 Coupe is the first model to break cover. Mercedes-Benz S 500 Coupe comes equipped with the same 4.6-liter V8 biturbo engine as the sedan, delivering a total of 455 hp and a peak of 700 Nm of torque. It also features similar levels of equipment with the Mercedes-Benz Magic Body Control, Pre-Safe brake and Distronic Plus with Steer Assist and Stop & Go Pilot all featuring.
The Mercedes-Benz S 500 Coupe remains very true to the original Coupe Concept revealed last year at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2013. The front-end is significantly sleeker than the sedan. The LED headlights are also very similar to those of the sedan. The ice profile gets a tight design with a central line running the length of the car. At the rear, rectangular dual rear exhaust pipes give the car a powerful look.
Expect the Mercedes-Benz S 500 Coupe to be joined in the very near future by a Mercedes-Benz S 63 AMG Coupe and Mercedes-Benz S 65 AMG Coupe. We are not yet sure whether Mercedes-Benz will release models with lesser engines than the S 500 Coupe.

Honda Civic Type R Concept Leaks Before Geneva Debut

 

After releasing an awesome teaser image in the lead-up to the Geneva Motor Show 2014, the brand new Honda Civic Type R has been leaked before its debut. If you are a keen follower of Honda, you may be aware that late last year, prototypes were spotted testing on numerous occasions completely undisguised. However, if the new Honda Civic Type R Concept is anything to go by, Honda was keeping a few key styling traits to itself.

 Visually, the new Honda Civic Type R is about aggressive as a hot hatch can be. At the front, it features the same standard design as the standard Honda Civic, however, includes brand new LED headlights, a black panel below the front grille as well as a large splitter stretching around to the front tyres. The car also features new sports wheels, new wing mirror caps and side skirts.

The most prominent change at the back of the concept compared to previous prototypes with it featuring a futuristic taillights design stretching along the massive rear wing. Additionally, the car features widened wheel arches up front and at the rear as well as an aggressive rear diffuser and quad exhaust pipes

Official details about the engine have yet to be revealed, but it can be confirmed it is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbocharged VTEC engine set to deliver around 280 hp and up to 300 hp. Impressively, the car will only be available as a six-speed manual.

Koenigsegg One:1

Stand well back. This is the Koengisegg One:1, and it may well need a team of lion-tamers to restrain it from leaping clean off its Geneva motor show stand and picking a fight with the McLaren P1, LaFerrari and Porsche 918. You’re looking at, according to Koenigsegg, the new fastest road car in the world.

Pull the other one. How fast is this Koenigsegg?

The Swedish supercar maker, which is celebrating its 20th birthday this year, calculates the One:1 will achieve 273mph flat out. The really terrifying bit is that the top speed is dictated by the limits of the Michelin tyres, not the drivetrain. Flipping, and indeed, heck.

What does the weird ‘One:1’ name mean?

It’s the car’s power to weight ratio: something of a holy grail for car engineers. The all-carbonfibre One:1 weighs 1341kg – around 50kg less than a ‘dry’ McLaren P1, and about the same as a fuelled LaFerrari.
Yet it develops a faintly ludicrous 1329bhp – or 1341PS, in new money. That’s right: this car has one horsepower per one kilogram. Hence the One:1 name, and the fact it’s not far off being of capable of time travel.

I bet it’s a part-electric hybrid to get that sort of power

Not so. Unlike McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche’s latest supercars, the Koenigsegg One:1 is no hybrid. All of its power is developed by a mid-mounted 5.0-litre V8, boosted by two variable geometry turbochargers. That’s an engine half the size of a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport’s W16, with half the turbo count, producing an extra 143bhp.
The engine has been bored out slightly from its application in the 1124bhp Koenigsegg Agera R (which weighs 70kg more than the One:1), and boost has been wound up by 0.4bar, to 1.8bar. The engine is happy to burn regular super-unleaded, FIA-certified race fuel, or (in a cheeky nod to the new-found eco-consciousness of modern supercars) E85 bioethanol, says Koenigsegg.
Power is sent to the rear wheels only, via a seven-speed paddleshift gearbox and an electronic rear differential.

Give me some more performance figures!

To get your head around just how fast the Koenigsegg One:1 is, consider that instead of quoting a 0-62mph time for the car, Koenigsegg has only revealed one acceleration stat: the car’s 0-250mph time. It’s 20 seconds – three seconds faster than a Porsche 918 Spyder can crawl to 186mph. Impressed yet?
No? Then take note of the One:1’s unmissable aero package. Amusingly, Koenigsegg claims that top speed was not the main pursuit with the One:1 (then why did you give it over 1300bhp, guys?) Instead, like the McLaren P1, the One:1 is designed to be the ultimate track weapon.

You’d have to be mad to drive this thing on track!

We agree, but Koenigsegg’s engineers don’t. The standard One:1’s Agera R body has sprouted new canard winglets up front, and a huge adaptive rear wing, which flattens itself under hard acceleration for less drag, and pops up when you brake or corner for more downforce.
Koengisegg reckons the entire car conjures up 610kg of downforce at 273mph. McLaren will no doubt smugly remind you that its own P1 needs only a pedestrian 150mph to be showing on its speedo before it creates 650kg of extra mass. Nevertheless, the One:1 still generates a purported 2G in a fast bend.
Enhancing the One:1’s racetrack credentials are carbon-ceramic disc brakes measuring 397mm up front (and 40mm in width!), gripped by six-piston calipers. The rears are 380mm across, and have four-pot grabbers.
They live behind lightweight carbonfibre wheels, and can haul the One:1 from 248mph to rest in 10 seconds. Or pull you up from 62mph in a scant 28 metres – 45m less than the UK Highway Code requires.

Wow. Can I buy one?

No, you’re too late, even if you’ve got the requisite $2m lying around. Only six One:1s will be produced by Koenigsegg, and all are spoken for, with four reportedly snapped up by Chinese enthusiasts.
With LaFerrari and McLaren P1 sold out as well, it’s over to the 270mph Hennessey Venom GT or Porsche 918 Spyder super-hybrid if you’re a lottery winner in need of modern hypercar kicks.

2015 Audi S1

Two years ago, we spent some time behind the wheel of a limited-edition Audi A1 Quattro, and we were left in awe of the 256-hp supermini’s perfectly balanced chassis and incredible performance. In the immediate aftermath, Audi functionaries insisted that a not-so-limited-production successor was on the way to complement the brand’s tiny, Volkswagen Polo–based A1. And then all went quiet. Until now, when the 2015 S1 was introduced ahead of the car’s in-the-metal debut next month at the Geneva auto show.

The S1’s specifications are quite similar to its limited-run predecessor’s. The new car is also powered by a 2.0-liter turbo four, and uses a six-speed manual, while top speed is 155 mph—3 mph faster than the A1 Quattro’s.

 

In order to make this S1, engineers had to make a number of modifications from the front-drive A1, which is about three inches longer than a Ford Fiesta ST but nearly identical in every other dimension. For starters, an all-wheel-drive system needed to be fitted, making the S1 the first mass-produced all-wheel-drive A1, as was a new multilink rear suspension and making accommodations for the larger engine—the A1’s powertrain lineup maxes out at a 1.4-liter.

Rated at 231 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque, the S1's EA888 2.0-liter turbo four is less powerful than the A1 Quattro’s EA113 powerplant, but it produces more torque. Audi says that the S1 can sprint from standstill to 62 mph in 5.8 seconds, or 5.9 seconds in the five-door S1 Sportback, and achieve 34 mpg on the utopian European cycle. Those performance estimates handily outgun what we achieved in our test of a Fiesta ST, which was good for a 7.0-second run to 60.
The S1 looks aggressive, with its unique fascia treatments and quad exhaust outlets. The look can be enhanced with an exterior design package that adds “Quattro” graphics, a large rear wing, and blacked-out trim on the hatch. 

The interior is fitted with special gauges and sport seats, although buyers can upgrade the latter to "S" seats with integrated headrests. Interior materials are dark and businesslike, lending the cabin the air of seriousness that’s commonplace in the car’s larger siblings.

Given the S1's performance and level of refinement, its German-market price of €24,259 (roughly $33,000 at today’s exchange rates) is almost a steal. We doubt the 2015 S1 will ever reach America air, but when the standard A1 was launched we were told the car could be certified to meet U.S. safety standards with relative ease. We suggest ringing Audi and registering a request

McLaren confirms 650S supercar

McLaren has confirmed it will reveal a supercar called the 650S at the upcoming 2014 Geneva motor show.
Expected to be based on the McLaren 12C that has been a slow seller compared with the Ferrari 458 it competes with, the 650S is expected to get major styling revisions and a more powerful version of the 3.8-litre twin turbocharged V8 engine.
The 650S will be the third supercar in the current range from the British sports car maker that is better known for its Formula One success than its road cars.
Power is expected to increase to about 480kW – or 650 horsepower, hence the 650S moniker – outgunning the Ferrari 458 Speciale it’s expected to compete with.

The 650S is an additional model on top of the McLaren P1 hypercar (it won’t be sold here because it will only be produced with the steering wheel on the left-hand side) and long rumoured more affordable McLaren, which is expected to take on Porsche’s iconic and segment-dominating 911.
McLaren released only a picture of the badge of the upcoming 650S, saying it would release more details of the car on March 4, 2014.
In a short statement accompanying the picture McLaren said the 650S would sit between the 12C and the P1, suggesting a price tag between $500,000 and $1 million.
“Designed and developed to offer the enthusiast driver the ultimate in luxury, engagement and excitement, as well as dramatic yet beautiful styling, the McLaren 650S is the result of 50 years of competing, and winning, at the highest levels of motorsport,” the statement read. “It takes learnings from both the 12C as well as the sell-out McLaren P1 and will be positioned between the two on McLaren Automotive’s supercar grid.”
According to official sales figures just 51 McLaren 12C Coupes and Spiders have been sold in Australia since going on sale late in 2011 up until the end of January 2014.

The all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The all-new Mercedes-Benz C-Class is up to 100 kg (220 lbs) lighter than the model it replaces and one of the elements contributing to the weight saving is the smaller fuel tank. Standard C-Class models are offered with a 41-liter (10.8-US gallon) fuel tank, similar in size or even smaller than what superminis are offering nowadays.
The C-Class’ relatively tiny fuel tank is said to contribute to as much as 16 percent of the average 75 kg saved by the new W205 generation.
By shrinking the standard fuel tank by 18 liters (4.75 gallons), Mercedes-Benz has reduced the official curb weight of the C-Class by 12 kg (26.4 lbs). In the EU, a car’s official curb weight is calculated using a fuel tank filled to 90 percent of its capacity, as well as an additional 75 kg (165 lbs) for the driver.

While weight saving is great news for fuel economy and handling, is it really a good idea to offer a smaller fuel tank? Apparently, Mercedes-Benz believes it is. “We have reduced the fuel tank capacity of the new C-class roughly in line with the fuel savings it offers over its predecessor. For those customers who place a priority on range, we offer an optional 66-liter tank,” a company spokesman was quoted as saying by Autocar.
In Germany, Mercedes-Benz charges €59.50 ($81) for the optional 66-liter (17.4-gallon) tank. In the UK, however, the C-Class will be offered as standard with the larger tank, although official figures will be quoted from the European standard and the 41-liter tank.
The most economical C-Class currently on offer in Europe, the C 220 BlueTec, has a declared average fuel consumption of 4 l/100 km (58.8 mpg US), which means it ideally has a driving range of 1,025 km (637 miles) with the 41-liter fuel tank. However, official fuel economy figures are always more optimistic than real ones. Choose the C 200 petrol model that averages 5.3 l/100 km and driving range drops significantly to 773 km (480 miles). And that’s still a fuel-efficient model we’re talking about...

Official Photos of New Mercedes S-Class Coupe

New Mercedes S-Class Coupe is officially revealed and I can official declare that, it looks good. Finally, Mercedes did something that looks nice and does not recall its conservative design philosophy and this makes my previous post regarding to S-Class Coupe a bit dull.

The new Mercedes S-Class Coupe looks like a large version of the CLA. Especially the front end of the S-Class Coupe shares common design bits but this is not something really bad, instead makes the S-Class Coupe look younger. 

As usual, Mercedes S-Class Coupe features the all new safety technology from the sedan version and also offers a new technology called Road Surface Scan. As I understand from the press release, the new S-Class Coupe can tilt like pendolino trains and increase handling. This technology is not new, Mercedes was working on tilting wheels and chassis more than one-decade.

There are no details about the engines but never buy a S-Class Coupe except S500! And I cannot miss the Super Sport steering wheel. Honestly, it is funny! If you are planning to drive a car for long journeys and don’t like to suffer from the adverse effects of driving, the new S-Class Coupe will be the best vehicle. Literally, it can drive by itself and quite comfortable but don’t expect to experience laser precise handling like a Ferrari.